Ever heard of “wedding sprawl”? It’s a phenomenon that The Atlantic describes this way: “as couples strive to keep up with cultural perceptions and their friends’ lives, they can end up putting financial and logistical strain on their guests”.

And according to the Financial Times , “friendflation” – the rising cost of celebrating your mates – is on the up too.

They point out that the average cost of attending a wedding has risen to £450, while the mean price of attending a hen or stag weekend in the UK is a whopping £779.

Now, new stats suggest an even bleaker state of affairs: it seems simply maintaining close friendships sets women back £2,414 a year on average. For men, it’s £2,994.

Why has friendship gotten so expensive?

In this research, conducted by Rakuten , those surve

See Full Page